Golden Portrait
by AinaZ
Summary: Eventual SxJ. Modeling in secrecy in his native NYC, Joey gets a chance to start his life over after being sent to Japan to model for a big franchise. It's not going to be easy though, especially when the CEO is a cold, heartless, albeit handsome, jerk.
1. Stuck

**A/N:** I don't really know what to say here right now. I began to write this fiction because I was watching a certain modeling show a little too much, and brainstormed a story plot with a little modeling incorporated in it. I don't know if you all will like it, but here it goes!

Oh, and I'm sorry if you guys don't like me using the American name for Jou. It's just that he's in New York, and the name 'Joey' fits that scene much better than 'Jou.' I might change it to 'Jou' later in the story, if the demand for it is strong enough, but since Joey isn't in Japan yet, I'll just leave it like it is. Hope you enjoy.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO is a Scene change.**

**Disclaimer:** Me owning Yu-Gi-Oh! Would be as inappropriate as this story is to the "Oh-my-God! Is that two boys?" people, so no. Oh, and if you haven't figured out by now, it's eventual Seto/Joey/Jou. That's right! Two boys!

_Chapter One: Stuck _

"Awesome, Joey. Now you gotta show everyone that you're a pro at using this new duel disk shtick. Wait, no! Be careful with it, it's going to come out of your pay if it breaks, dude. All right, now turn your head a little to the right, good. Whoa, crazy intensity, awesome shot! You're doing great, Joey, it's so easy working with you on these things!"

Click.

Click.

Clickety-click.

Joey never really got the concept of modeling. Apparently, you just stand in front of a camera, pose, and try to look as pretty as possible. He looked at the duel disk he was wearing on his left wrist. What a weird device. This was supposed to pioneer the evolution of card dueling? How exactly do you use it? Nevertheless, for all that Joey was concerned, all he needed to do was act as if it was the best thing to happen to him since he found out that free pizza came with every modeling gig.

To even think that Joey even modeled was a funny notion in itself, but here he was. It was okay pay, but... _modeling_? His dad would have him for breakfast, lunch and dinner if he ever found out. Joey would never tell anyone who didn't need to know. The only reason why he was even in front of flashing cameras and creepy photographers was because he needed the money. Well, not all of the photographers were creepy. Elias, the guy who was taking shots of Joey currently, wasn't creepy. Joey and Elias were the same age, and it amazed Joey how fast Elias had risen up the ranks as a fashion photographer. Even though Elias made Joey out to be some sort of supermodel when he really wasn't, it helped Joey get more into character.

People around school told him that he was sort of (very) adorable, and he was desperate for a job then. He had to wear a trench coat, aviator knockoffs and a detective hat to walk into the modeling agency to apply, and he had no portfolio! All he did was imagine that he was whatever they wanted him to be, and he did it well. Joey has always had a good imagination, and he was finally able to put it into good use without breaking much of a sweat. Was modeling actually his calling? How could it be? He was such a tough guy! Oh, and the modeling agency had a name. Teen Couture Modeling Agency. He was still a tough kid though, right?

He was living in a bad neighborhood located in the Bronx, for crying out loud. You have to learn to be hardy there, and that's what he had done. If anyone, especially Joey's father, knew that he was modeling? After all of the brawls that Joey went through in school? It could never happen, for it did, he'd be dead. Either killed by his friends or his father. Well. Joey didn't really consider his friends... friends, really. More like associates, people that you hung around with because you had nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to. So, yeah. Teen Couture.

If his father ever found out the name of the company, in addition to knowing that his son worked for them... If that didn't set off any alarms in his head that his son might be a little "soft," Joey didn't know what could.

Apparently, Joey was also confused about his sexual orientation, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. Or deny it. The confusion never went away. Or, the realization never did. Joey always believed that it was some kind of psychological thing. Or like, genetic because who would actually want to be gay? Or bisexual? He'd seen people get attacked and ridiculed just for who they liked to fuck. If those people could change whom they liked, they would. Joey, in his earlier years of school, was always the lucky one. Joey wasn't exactly hideous, no matter how oblivious he was to his own looks, and was always asked by girls and guys alike as to why he wasn't hooked up. He always said the same old thing:

"I just gotta focus on work, you know? Can't take care o' nobody else 'til I can take care o' myself."

_All_ through middle school.

_All_ through high school.

With the deep New York accent that's gotten lighter over the years somehow.

Amazing how no one caught on. Or, maybe no one cared enough. Either way, he was one of the ones that were better off, and Joey was sure that his tough guy image helped him. There was some truth to it though. Joey did focus on work a whole lot, but only just to get out of school. And now he was a high school senior. Only one year left, but then what, model in secrecy until he could move to some other city? Maybe a gayer city, but maybe not. His father would suspect something and then kill him during a visit.

If one thing was for sure, he was fed up with denying it within himself. It's easier to hide from everyone else when he knew exactly what he had to hide. He had a really slight attraction to girls. He'd stare at a pair of breasts just like any guy would, but only because he didn't have a pair of his own. He wouldn't want to stick his head in between them like his associates would, which only made him realize how different he was from everyone that he hung around with. He would never get a boyfriend around here. Or, at least, not openly. In fact, he couldn't even imagine himself in an open relationship with any guy, because it was so socially impossible here. Joey wouldn't be sexually attracted to other guys if he could help it. Last year, Joey lost a fight because the other guy's leg got way too close to his...

_Well. _

Long, embarrassing story short, Joey just took the punches just so the other guy could get off of him.

Basically, Joey is a secret, gay model. Or, secret, bisexual model but has a huge preference to guys. A secret, bisexual model with a huge preference to guys that has no way out of a place that won't accept who he is and who he likes. Weren't you supposed to tell your parents everything, like the model, perfect and average child would?

Maybe all of these secrets made it easier for him to model. Had to be something, right?

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

"It's good enough, Joey..." A lady in a one-piece cat suit, with a large, brown belt looked over the photo slideshow of Joey's latest photo shoot. They were in her office, which was quite spacious. When you first walked in, you saw her polished desk made of oak, adorned with random trinkets and pictures. The desk had two fancy office chairs on each side of it and behind the desk, were two large windows, with a nice view of bustling, Manhattan activity when the blinds were open. Beside the windows were two azalea trees, which rose up to reach the same height of the windows. A fancy hanging light shone from the middle of the ceiling. Joey would call it a chandelier, but he wasn't sure if certain hanging lights had certain names.

Come to think of it, the office space wasn't exactly spacious, but it was peaceful. Maybe the Zen feeling gave the illusion that there was more space than there actually was.

"We've got some great pictures in the beginning, but what was up with you towards the end? Whatever you were thinking about was showing across your face. You have to try to think positive during upbeat shoots like this, okay?" She had long, wavy orange hair, styled like she was the forth Charlie's Angel. She was the image manager, and was in charge of the amateur division. She decided what pictures actually get published in magazines and the like.

Joey sat across from her, looking at the photos as well. "Sorry. Just have a lot on my mind today." He leaned into his chair. "Can I do the shoot over again?"

The cat lady smiled. "Now, you know the cameramen don't have time for do-overs. I'm sure one or more of your pictures will make the cut for the portfolio that we're sending out to Japan tomorrow. You're done for today, though. You can pick up your check over at the reception desk. You're scheduled for tomorrow, for the group shot we're taking to finalize the portfolio."

He managed to put up a half smile. "Alright, thanks. See ya tomorrow." The cat lady rose up and walked off, leaving Joey to think about how he could perform without letting his imagination wander off into introspection and other things that are too unnecessary for modeling toys manufactured by some huge franchise in Japan. His imagination was a great tool, but it also had the potential to ruin him during shoots. He rose up a little against the chair, and then started idly twirling around like he used to do with the computer chairs in middle school, thinking about what he should do.

"Why am I still in here?" He asked himself after realizing that he was playing around in someone else's chair for more than five minutes. He got up and began to walk out the door, only to crash into Elias while he was trying to walk by. Never really noticing what Elias wore today until now, Joey got a quick glance before Elias reacted to the crash. His chocolate brown hair was combed down, but slightly messy. His tan skin brought out his piercing green eyes. He had slight stubble as well. He was wearing a plain, red tank top with blue washed out jeans. Maybe the fact that Joey had a slight crush on Elias enabled him to see things that weren't exactly visible the way they collided. Like the stubble. He compared Elias' outfit to his own, saggy navy blue jeans/green t-shirt ensemble, completed with a brown, worn out leather jacket. If Joey cared enough about his own looks, he'd go on to worry about his hair, which always looked bedraggled no matter how much he combed it.

"Sorry, clumsy me," Joey blurted out with a small laugh. "I wasn't really paying much attention there..."

"It's alright," Elias replied, almost stroking the shoulder that Joey crashed into. Joey turned away from Elias' eyes and looked towards the uninteresting gray colored flooring. "Hey, how'd the pictures turn out? Straight outta'a mag, right?" He palmed Joey's right shoulder and shook him gently, something that a friend would do.

"Eh, well, you know." Joey replied, shrugging and avoiding eye contact. "A few good, a few bad, but I wasn't all that focused today."

"I noticed." Elias replied, causing Joey to look up at him.

Joey scoffed. "Yeah? Then why were you all 'Come on Joey, that's great, perfect' like I was a super stud?"

"It's all about encouragement." Elias said, matter-of-factly in fact. "And I want you to do good out there. That's my job, you know? Don't worry about the pictures. If there's good ones then they're going' in that portfolio for Japan tomorrow."

Joey half-smiled, shaking his head as he looked back down towards the floor as Elias continued reassuringly. "This is a big thing. If you get picked, you've got a plane ticket straight to Japan's branch. They need you over there." He slapped Joey's back to get him to snap out of whatever trance the floor put him in. Joey faced Elias, only to see a warm, handsome, full-toothed smile.

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds, Elias' smile fading away and then turning into full out laughter. It snapped Joey out of the hypnotic trance he was under thanks to Elias' smile, which only frustrated him because a) It reminded Joey that he liked boys and b) the smile had disappeared.

Even so, Joey's reaction to Elias' unfunny shtick was a simple eye roll. Because, that's how a friend would react.

Elias shook his head in response. "Why are you so worried? You need to see what I see. I even tried to be all sappy buddy like and it didn't phase you. You should go home, get some rest, and get here early for the final shoot. Yeah?"

"Whatever you say, Elias." Joey replied, looking back down and doing everything possible to keep from acting like an idiot. "But, I think you're crazy. There's load'sa fashion models in this building more bet-"

"Shut it." Elias interrupted. "You need an alarm clock? Here, borrow my watch and set it for 5AM. Do it and get here." Elias slipped off his gold-plated watch and stuck it inside Joey's left jacket pocket. "I'll see you later, I gotta ready up for my next shoot. But first, look at me."

Joey looked up to see stern, emerald eyes stare deep into his own.

He felt lightheaded, again, and his breaths suddenly got shorter. Joey's lips began to part slightly and naturally as the staring ensued for what seemed to be for eternity.

"GET HERE ON TIME!" Elias yelled, bringing Joey out of his fairytale moment. Again.

In reality, it had only lasted for three seconds.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Joey yelled back. "THAT WASN'T FUNNY!"

"It actually really was," Elias said, going back to his normal tone. "Gotta run, don't lose the watch, or steal it and claim that you lost it!"

"Who would wanna steal this old lookin' thing?" Joey retaliated.

They parted ways then. Elias walked off into the hectic crowd of cameramen, props and models, men and women alike, smiling before taking off. Joey watched his back as he disappeared into the activity. He reached into his pocket and took out the watch that was lent to him. Joey wasn't aware that he was such a comedian, and Elias would probably laugh even more if he found out that Joey didn't even know how to use a watch, for he never had one.

Either that, or smile. Which is much worse only because it's cuter. Joey gave himself a mental slap. He didn't have to yell at Elias like that. He'd deny the fact that it was most likely a form of sexual frustration. It could never be that. Yeah right. Are you kidding me right now?

But, Joey damned his hormones to hell, anyway.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

The receptionist at the desk was a typical one. And since she was at a modeling agency, it made it even more painful for Joey to see her every time he had to pick something up from the blonde haired, cherry red lipped teenager.

She chirped, "Have a nice day!" before handing Joey his check encased in a brown envelope. Joey bet that she was so cheery because she got to spend so much time with hot guys, in hopes of actually snagging one. He thanked her as he took the check, but also felt kind of sorry for her. In a place like this, she'd have to sit on top of her desk, knock her laptop onto the ground and expose every inch of cleavage she had because the guys here are either too oblivious, narcissistic or possibly gay to care about anything she'd do otherwise.

As he started to walk toward the subway, Joey knew that he wouldn't want to be around reception girl once all of those guys push her off of the testosterone roller coaster. Not like it's any fun riding it, anyway. Joey's been on it for 17 years, and nothing's happened. He could totally go out to some club and change that, but then he'd risk being seen by people he knew. The subway rolled in and slowed to a stop as he climbed aboard.

How long could he possibly keep all of this inside himself?

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

**F/N**: So, um… should I keep going with this?


	2. Fast Lane

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, if anyone cared! I was out of a computer for awhile. Thank you all for the reviews, I had fun reading them. The format of my story is frustrating me. I have to use some crazy symbol to represent changes in scene, and every time I try to space out my paragraphs in OpenOffice **_or_** the FFN editor, the changes never save. I end up with a chapter without any proper space breaks, which makes it look all mushed up, which frustrates me. I see stories around here with perfect formatting... what do they use? Can someone please help me out? I'd like to make this story look as nice as I can for you all. I hope you enjoy it now, as it is, though!

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO is a Scene Change.**

**Disclaimer: **Has Joey/Jou ever looked at Seto, in the manga or otherwise, saying, "I hate his hot ass so much..." Well? Well, if not, then it's obvious that I don't own anything Yu-Gi-Oh!, besides this story, which really has nothing to do with the real thing at all.

_Chapter Two: Fast Lane_

He didn't use the watch Elias lent him to wake him up, since he seriously had no clue how to use it. Joey always had trouble sleeping with the television on, so he dozed on and off on the living room couch until it was time to get ready to head out for the final shoot. It meant that he wasn't able to get much sleep, something that Elias wanted him to do, but he could drink coffee before leaving. He hated the smell of it, the taste and the aftertaste as well, but he couldn't let Elias detect that anything was wrong. As much as Joey wanted Elias to stare into his eyes again, he wouldn't be able to take a second coming of that.

He had taken a quick shower and walked to the kitchen to pour himself a dreadful cup of coffee. He poured it in a tall glass since the mugs they had weren't big enough for the amount of coffee that Joey thought he had to gulp down. He had to remind himself that it was for the caffeine before taking one painful sip after another. He took it without any sugar, cream or milk or chocolate. He wanted to amuse himself, to experience how high-class businessmen drank their coffee. Besides, even if his coffee were loaded with additives, he'd still hate the aftertaste, so it was a lose-lose situation. He could do without the refined carbohydrates that sugar provided. He was a model, after all.

Joey lived in an apartment with his father. He has a mother and a sister as well, but both parents fought over how they would raise their two children since they couldn't stand raising them together. They didn't need a court hearing or anything to decide that the dad would take the boy, and the mother would take the girl. This happened when Joey was about six, and his younger sister, Serenity, three. Joey always felt that they settled it in the most unorthodox way, as if Joey and Serenity were just pawns to place somewhere on the chessboard of their parents' so-called busy lives. Feeling that way, he didn't really attach himself too close to his father, although nothing was really wrong with him. He was just a typical bachelor dad in his forties. He drank a little, sat in front of the television a lot, went to work, brought home a "broad," kicked her out the next day, etcetera. Joey and his dad couldn't look anymore different. Joey's dad had short, smooth brown hair that felt like moss. He was still lean, and wore wifebeaters all of the time. He was still taller than Joey, and had a dominate voice, equipped with the accent. Joey couldn't figure out why he was losing his. His dad also had a harsh tongue, so Joey didn't like talking to him much. He, too, noticed that as good-looking as Joey could be at times, he wasn't "hookin' in any goilz." Good thing that his dad wasn't so bright. The excuse that Joey used at school also worked on his father. He would never tell the truth. No way, no how.

He was almost done with his coffee, though. He checked Elias' watch and had some time to spare. He could try to tame his hair, but he never had much luck with that. He decided to see if he was forgetting anything, heading out of the kitchen, into the hallway and to the right into his room. His dad was in his way, though.

"Where you goin' at this time of day?" He asked his son. "Do the corner store in Manhattan open up this early?" Joey had told his father that he worked at a corner store, instead of a modeling agency, in Manhattan. That way, his dad couldn't find him since he worked in the Bronx.

"The manager wants me ta' get there early to do some stackin'." Joey answered. He tried to up his accent to seem tough in front of his father. It was just another one of his concealing tricks.

"It's just a corner store job, Joe. You workin' haad for a girl or somethin'? Aaaaahahaha, you are, aren't ya. Long time comin', you're finally gettin' some tail eh?" He grinned, grabbing both of Joey's shoulders and shaking him hard as he laughed.

Joey looked to the side. "Nah dad, there aren't any pretty ones there."

"Well," Joey's dad responded, looking up to the ceiling, as if he was in deep thought. "You may be right. No cute girls work in corner stores!"

Joey said nothing. He could only laugh with him, in response, although it was fake.

"You get to work so you can get outta there and into some big business, ya hear me?"

"Yeah," Joey answered. "I gotta start headin' out."

"If I'm not here when you get back, it means I'm at work."

"Yeah, I know, see ya later."

Joey turned and began to walk, when Joey's dad laughed and gave him a shove. Joey looked back and laughed with him, kind of. He felt he had to, anyway. He grabbed his jacket and walked out the door. Joey gave his dad some thought. That was actually one of the better times he had talking with him. He must have gotten some last night.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

That poor reception lady. She still wasn't getting much attention and didn't seem as cheery as she was yesterday. She didn't smile at Joey when he wasted the effort to say hi to her. She just continued to pay attention to her nails even though there was nothing she could do to them. Was she trying the hard-to-get approach? Doesn't she know that the models won't even know she exists now? They'll just think that their checks appear on her desk out of thin air. Joey shook his head thinking about how sad she'll be after she realizes that she'll never win with these guys. He sat on an empty chair that sat in cat lady's office, waiting for her to arrive for further instructions. He wondered where Elias was, after making such a big deal about him getting here so early. He still had his watch that he had to return, so he was bound to see him sometime today.

The cat lady, who wasn't much of a cat lady anymore since she was wearing a different outfit, entered the office. Joey stifled a yawn, fearing that the caffeine high was running out. How could it, though? He had drunk a huge glass full of it just an hour and some odd minutes ago! This could only make Joey like coffee even less.

"Joey, you're here early," the cat lady chirped.

"Heh, yeah, I woke up pretty early today," Joey replied, proud of himself and the coffee.

The cat lady sat opened the blinds, and then sat down. She raked through the right side of her orangish hair as she continued. "Good, we can get started. You do know that the final shoot for the Japan branch portfolio is today, correct?" She turned on her PC.

Joey replied, "I do."

She began typing on her keyboard at a rapid, but graceful pace. "The shoot will start pretty soon, so we're going to get you into the hair and makeup station. I'm bringing up the pictures you took yesterday. I have some good ones that I can contribute to the portfolio, so that's good news, right?"

Well, that was a surprise.

"I did say that the quality of your pictures kind of died down toward the end of the shoot, but you were phenomenal during the first 20 or so frames. Just don't let your thoughts distract you too much today, okay?" Joey nodded as she looked up ahead of him. "Oh! There you are."

Confused, Joey turned around on his chair and saw another model-ish looking boy standing in cat lady's doorway. He had alabaster skin, short, jet-black hair that was styled a la Ryan Seacrest, with gray colored eyes. He grinned, blurting out a "Heeey, Ophelia" from his mouth. Joey squinted his eyes slightly. That must've been the cat lady's actual name. Something that Joey should've known, but never bothered to find out. Shouldn't she have her name plastered on her door, or some kind of nameplate on her desk? Joey turned his head towards Ophelia before the nameless boy noticed his stare.

"Oh!" Ophelia exclaimed. "It seems that we have a shortage on chairs. Well, I'll go retrieve one from the outside hallway." She stood up from her own chair and glanced at Joey. "Joey, this is Trevar Maxwell and he's going to be part of the final shoot too, just like you." She then glanced at Trevar. "Trevar, this is Joey Wheeler. Now, you two make acquaintance while I go get that chair."

Joey, with a tight-lipped grin, looked towards Trevar and raised his eyebrows for a quick second, lowering them again after. "'Sup," was all he could say. Trevar looked towards Joey and replied with a nod, which only made Joey's effort to be friendly seem a little much. Ophelia smiled, approving of their greeting, and walked out of the office, leaving the two boys alone. Trevar checked his nails, while Joey looked blankly out of the window from the chair he was sitting in. A sudden realization came to Joey, a realization that his snapshots were up on Ophelia's monitor, and even though the monitor was faced away from the boys, Joey could take the opportunity to see how good his pictures actually were. Disregarding Trevar, because his greeting was more lackluster than Joey's own, Joey rose from his chair and walked behind Ophelia's desk, to see the pictures from yesterday.

Trevar raised his eyes from his nails, to peer at Joey. "You know you can get in trouble for that, right?"

Joey rolled his eyes, mentally, of course. As if this Trevar person knew everything. "They're pictures I took from yesterday."

Trevar raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Mind if I see them with you?"

Joey shrugged. "Go ahead, I don't care."

Trevar shrugged in response. "Alright, cool." He walked behind Ophelia's desk, and leaned on it beside Joey, to look at the monitor. Joey clicked on the mouse as the slideshow of Joey's pictures continued on. In the pictures, Joey was wearing a red fitted tee with black jeans, decorated with a flame design that rose up the sides of the jeans. His main accessory was the duel disk that was manufactured and created by KaibaCorp. As the slideshow went on, Joey wondered what was taking Ophelia so long and why Trevar was so close to him as Trevar viewed the different facial expressions that Joey used in the snapshots while showcasing the duel disk. The last shot Trevar saw was of Joey cocking his head a little to the side, wearing a cocky and confident grin as the arm that Joey had the duel disk equipped to was draped across his chest, as if he was about to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Trevar rose up and walked back to his designated standing spot.

"They were okay. A couple of good ones there." He nodded, giving a slight grin, nodding and raising his eyebrows.

Joey looked up from the monitor. "Thanks?"

Joey glared at the other boy. Who died and made him the Critic of America? The last time Joey checked, this Trevar guy was in the same boat that he was in. Who asked him? It's not like Joey cared about how good he was at modeling or anything, but still. No one asked him. Joey walked back to his chair and sat, after Trevar's way of saying "You're welcome" by nodding. Again, as if he was at some kind of higher level than Joey was. He didn't know him at all, but he was still kind of amazed, in a negative kind of way, by how much of a borderline jerk that Trevar was being. If Trevar wasn't careful, and if Joey was stupid enough, he'd physically give Trevar a lesson in "How Much You Are Annoying Joey," ending with Trevar crashing through Ophelia's glass office windows. But, for the sake of class, and money... Joey had to leave it alone.

A voice boomed from the doorway. Ophelia. "Well! This is a heavy chair. Someone mind helping me out?"

"I got it," replied Trevar, beating Joey to the punch. He sighed inwardly as the chair that Trevar was carrying landed right beside his. Joey straightened out his posture as Trevar took his seat beside him, Ophelia also taking her seat.

"Now!" She chirped, shutting down her PC. "To explain what you two are going to do today."

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

"I just... can't figure this out..."

"You're going to become a slave to that thing, Yugi."

"Malik is right... you should try resting, maybe?"

Three boys were huddled together, two of them particularly concerned about the other, smaller one. They were all in the smaller one's bedroom, and in his hands, a gold plated, pyramid shaped object with a single eye in the middle that seemed to have the power to look through souls.

The other two had similar gold plated objects as well. The sandy haired boy had his object fastened to his belt. It was similar to a jewel staff, a staff with an orb attached on top, but covered in gold plating. The single eye was in the middle of the orb, with two gold plated wings sticking out on each side of the orb. The fair-haired boy wore a long necklace. Attached to it, an object that was similar to a dream catcher, with the same soul searching eye in the center of it. The two boys weren't paying attention to their mysterious accessories nearly as much as the smaller boy was paying attention to his.

The small boy raked a hand through his tri-colored, spiky hair. "But I'm so close, I just know that I am, I can feel it!"

The sandy haired boy cocked his head to the side. "Feel what, Yugi?"

"Malik, you don't feel anything?" Yugi asked him. "Like, an empty space inside yourself filling up?"

"I don't think I have any empty spaces inside myself," Malik replied, giving Yugi a funny look. He then turned to his other friend. "Do you feel anything, Ryou?"

"I don't think so..." the fair-haired boy replied.

"So, that means that Yugi is insane," Malik concluded.

Yugi ignored Malik, turning the pyramid shaped object in his hands. "I just feel like I'm really close to solving this... this puzzle of some sorts. I just feel compelled to understand it the best I can."

Ryou palmed his necklace. "But... it was just a gift from my father and Ishtar, from the last time they came to visit, remember?"

"Maybe Yugi's piece is an addicting puzzle game?" Malik wondered. "He does nothing but mess with it all day outside of school."

"No," Yugi said, getting off of the stool he was sitting on. He turned to the others. "Last night I saw it glow from my bed! It was on my desk and then it started glowing."

Malik and Ryou looked toward each other, and then back at Yugi. Ryou yawned. "Um... It's getting a bit late..."

7:30 PM.

Malik scratched his head. "I agree. Whatever you're trying to figure out, Yugi, will have to wait until tomorrow. You really should get some sleep when we leave."

"Please?" Ryou added in.

Yugi walked over to his desk and placed the object on it, with a bittersweet smile. "You guys may be right. Maybe I was just seeing things."

Ryou and Malik looked toward each other again, and then proceeded to turn their backs towards Yugi, heading out of his room and down the stairs. "See you at school tomorrow!" Malik said aloud.

Yugi smiled towards the desk. The smile was intended for his two friends, but he didn't feel like turning around. He looked to his bed and rubbed his eyes, pretty sure that Malik was right about him seeing what he saw the night before. Ryou's dad had given Yugi a pile of gold plated pieces in a plastic baggy after his trip to a ruin site in Egypt. Yugi had put the pieces together as a rainy day project, and after he was done, the pyramid object that resulted from his work looked like some kind of exotic desk decoration. It just sat on his desk until it started glowing one night, causing Yugi to call up Ryou and Malik, almost demanding them to bring their respective objects to his house today. He shook his head. Maybe it was some sort of dream? Maybe he -was- putting too much thought into such a silly puzzle. Empty space? Yugi had always felt sort of lonely, but it didn't make sense to use a souvenir as a crutch. He crawled into bed, mentally thanking Malik and Ryou for realizing how close he was to going off the deep end.

Before heading their separate ways, Ryou turned to Malik. "Do you think something could be really wrong with Yugi?"

Malik shrugged. "He was always one to put a lot of time into games that he loves. But this particular game is over, so we can put these crazy looking things away."

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

Being able to travel to and live in Japan for a while might be just what the doctor ordered, Joey mused. But nothing ever came easy to him, besides modeling, and if he had to compete against vain assholes like Trevar, Joey could kiss the Japan trip goodbye. Or sayonara? It sounded too incredible anyway -- a new beginning, a chance for Joey to mold his life into something more desirable and less stressful? Yeah right. After meeting McJerky boy, though, Joey wondered how much passion he needed to put into this modeling business to really get ahead. Well, at least get ahead to Japan. Joey never got modeling, and never really cared too much for it, because it was just a job. But as he was standing around Trevar and the five other models that wanted to go overseas just as badly as he did, Joey began to think that his carelessness would finally start to keep him from getting more gigs.

But maybe he could fake having passion, at least for this shoot. He had to be able to stand out amongst Trevar and the other guys. Joey guessed that the Japan branch of dueling toys lacked male models, but he was grateful. This was his ticket to a new life. It bought newfound motivation and drive that he never had before towards making sure that all of his pictures turned out great -- a motivation that he never had before towards modeling. No one had to know that his motivation would only last so long, either. If he produced great shots, whose to care about anything else?

Elias had finally shown his face too, behind the camera at least. He was the photographer for the final shoot. The models, Joey included, were all in normal clothing, just standing next to each other. He found it peculiar.

"Alright," Elias shouted out, flashing a smile. Joey glared towards him, only slightly so that no one would notice. How he hated those lovely green eyes of his, and those dimples that made Elias' smile more handsome than it should be. It kept Joey from denying his feelings, feelings that most men don't have for other guys. Even though wasn't Elias' fault, Joey felt better blaming him. He slightly turned his head away from Elias' face in slight but imitated contempt, hoping that Elias would notice but knowing that Elias was too busy talking to notice something that he had no clue about, anyway. "This is the final shoot for the portfolio that's going to be sent to the Japan branch later today, so you'll all wanna bring out your best if you wanna get picked."

Joey rolled his eyes, still mad at Elias even though he had no right to be. He still had the watch, too.

Elias took his position, kneeling down with a professional camera in hand. "Just stay how you all are. The objective is to capture your natural, casual looks." Joey, noticing that he was paying too much attention to detail with Elias, also noticed that he acted so much more "professional" than yesterday when they were just shooting alone. Well. He -did- tell Joey that he liked working with him yesterday. Joey liked the idea of being Elias' favorite model, if that was ever possible. He decided not to be mad anymore. Instead, he wanted to take good pictures for both Elias and himself.

"Which is why I'm only takin' one shot," Elias continued, catching Joey's attention. "Everyone at T.C. wants to see how good you guys can perform from the start, and it'll impress the branch over in Japan once they know about it." He looked over towards Joey, and gave a quick look that both Joey and Trevar noticed, and Joey and Trevar were on separate ends! Joey tried to comprehend it after Elias looked back to everyone equally. Slight eye squint, very slight, and the edges of his lips also curved slightly. Joey froze, with only his eyes moving from side to side as if he was some type of murder target. That look was towards him, right?

Trevar noticed it, too, his gray eyes looking straight to the left, through the two other guys that separated the two boys and right onto Joey.

"Now, I'm going to countdown, and when I hit one, I'm takin' the shot. In three."

Joey prepped himself, getting a stray strand of hair away from his face.

"Two."

Trevar was still peering at Joey, glancing towards the camera occasionally.

"One."

Trevar quickly, and with a perfect amount of force, hip bumped the guy that was standing beside him. Domino effect ensued, the force getting weaker as it traveled from the first boy, to the second, and then to Joey, causing him to lose focus although he only felt a slight bump from the boy beside him.

Click.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

**A/N: **I had to introduce Yugi and the others sometime, didn't I? I still haven't introduced Seto yet, but he's coming. Everyone else too, like Tristan, Tea, Mai, etc. In due time. And how is Trevar? I hope you guys liked this chapter, and sorry for the long wait. If you happen to review, can you please tell me how I can make my story look a bit more clear?**  
**


	3. YOU

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for the long wait! School keeps me very busy. Anyhow, I hope there are still some people out there who read this thing. A few people are all I need, but more is always nice, of course! I still haven;t figured out a way to format these chapters better. I'm using the free download from FFNet, but the paragraphs are STILL stuck together! Any natural breaks in the story that I try to create by spacing out the paragraphs, fails when I upload the document to FFNet. I even saved the document as an .htm document, and still, no dice. Tried br tage and everything, and still, nothing. It's sort of depressing, as the story would look much better and attract more readers if I had a clue as to what I need to do to get some natural breaks here! Would anyone like to help me out?

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO is a Scene Change.**

**Disclaimer:** No, I do not own anything here, other than Trevar/Ophelia/Elias. So many original characters, but again, we're still in New York. We need some people to keep our dear Joey busy, don't we? He'll probably switch to Jou once Japan comes along. How will he do so? You shall see, you shall see. But not in this chapter, haha.

_Chapter Three: YOU_

**  
**

Heart rate, heart rate, heart rate. It was all that Joey wanted to focus on tonight. Cardio was the surefire way to raise your heart rate, and when you exercise, you release stress, right? Currently, Joey was running. He wasn't going anywhere though, not around the block or anything. Just running in place, in his room, door closed, with his headphones on. Joey decided that he wasn't going to be caught running outside unless he was running from the cops, or something like that. No one around here runs for exercise. They fight. Or lift weights, or whatever. Running in place sufficed, anyway. He had done it for fifteen minutes straight so far, and his heart rate was rising. Isn't that the point of cardio anyway? No matter how you do it, as long as your heart's beating fast, it works. Who needs the gym when you have the privacy that comes with staying at home? Weights were another story, though. Maybe he could lift something heavy over and over in his room?

Running in place was something new. It had some kind of poetic feel to it. Running hard, but not getting anywhere. Kind of like how his life was. It sounded depressing, but Joey had an excuse to be mopey after the pathetic but oh so important final photo shoot that happened earlier.

Infact, it was why Joey was running in the first place. He wanted to get his mind off of the whole thing, but his workout plan wasn't doing the trick. He knew Trevar had something to do with how the picture turned out. After Elias took the shot, the two guys in between Joey and Trevar glared at the grey eyed snake. Trevar shrugged, as if he had no clue why, in the final product, the two boys looked as if they were swaying their hips and how Joey looked as if he was checking them both out. Joey saw the final picture on Ophelia's computer in her office. She was puzzled by the looks and poses that the three boys chose to execute, but repeated to Joey that there were no do-overs, and lectured him about keeping his focus even if another person is distracting. What was she trying to say? Was she implying that he couldn't keep his eyes off of the hip-swaying twosome that he was modeling by? Joey couldn't wait to go home after Ophelia stopped running her mouth. She was much more likeable when Joey had no clue of her name.

Joey had bumped into Elias after his visit with Ophelia. He promptly handed Elias his watch back and left with a hand wave before Elias could even get a word out. That final shot was his last hope of living in Japan, to start fresh, and he blew it, not knowing who to blame but knowing that he was part of it.

Joey stopped running, thinking that the Japan trip had been too good to be true all along. The final portfolio had already been sent to the Japan branch via e-mail or something along the lines of that. He collapsed onto his twin sized bed, reminded that he needed to stuff some more clothes under the mattress to make it firm again. He didn't even try to think of any heavy objects he could use as weights, the workout plan was a lost cause. He wasn't even sure that he released any stress at all.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

"The portfolio for our image department, Mr. Kaiba?"

A man, dressed in typical office job attire was standing infront of a teenager, dressed in a navy blue formal business suit, who was sitting behind an extravagant business desk made of polished oak. The neat placement of papers, books and supplies, as well as his clean-cut appearance, hid the fact that the boy was immersed in his work. The sun had rose a couple of hours ago in Japan, but Seto Kaiba wouldn't have noticed as such. His chesnut brown hair was styled perfectly, and his deep, sapphire eyes that were boring into the intruding man in front of him matched complemented the outfit he was wearing. His intimidating glares helped him earn the respect of his inferiors that were much older than him. The teen CEO's icy eyes were almost ethereal upon his pale skin, but they lacked any sort of gleam or sparkle, keeping people from looking directly at him for too long. The man standing ahead of him seemed nervous, and Seto smirked at himself mentally, expecting the man's reaction. He took a sort of silent pride on how he was able to make middle aged men, that used to work for his "father," crumble.

"Uh..." the man continued, close to stuttering. "We have received the candidates for our image department, from New York in America, sir."

Seto continued staring. "So. You wasted time by coming to my office and telling me something that I pay you imbeciles to care about, instead of just picking a random few out of the pile and moving on to your other tasks at hand?"

"Well... uh... you see-" The man fidgeted.

Seto's onslaught ensued. "Is the image department really so indecisive that they can't carry out such a simple task? What am I paying you all for? Did you all think that picking another showcase puppet is all you people had to accomplish today?"

"N-no," the man replied. "I just came here to deliver a copy of the portfolio, in case you wanted to make changes yourself..."

Seto's patience ran thin. "I pay you people enough money for you to work efficiently without me having to babysit. You can choose a candidate with a blindfold for all I care, they'll be drenched in make-up regardless. If the image department can't do something like this without my help, then maybe I should reconsider your job positions."

The man bowed. "Yes. I apologize, Mr. Kaiba." He placed the portfolio on the chair that he was standing behind.

Seto sighed quietly in slight frustration. "Just get it done."

The man bowed again, and turned around to leave Seto's office, muttering to himself about why Mr. Kaiba always had to mention money. Seto sighed louder after the coast was clear, wondering why the workers over at the image department were having such a difficult time choosing people to do more insignificant jobs. KaibaCorp could do without models, but they help with sales, no matter how trivial Seto thought they were. He rose from his chair, walking over to the manilla folder that was placed on it. He picked it up and opened it, taking out the contents inside. With the pictures in hand, he walked back over to his own seat and sat down, looking over all of the pictures. Amused, he scoffed, noticing that all of the "models" were near or directly his age. He dropped the pile of pictures on his desk, reminding himself to throw them out on his way home.

That's when he came across one particular snapshot. It was of a blond boy, showing off Seto's latest duel disk creation. The boy was smiling confidently, almost smirking. Seto analyzed the picture more closely, picking it up from the pile on his desk. The blond boy had eyes that lit up like they were constantly ablaze.

Not knowing what else to do, he dropped the picture, scoffing again as it slid over to the rest of the pile, and continued with his work.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

The Teen Couture Modeling Agency wasn't nearly as bustling at night than it was during the day. A few models were still lounging, wanting to take advantage of the lack of people looking to apply for upcoming photoshoots. Receptionists, agents and camera crews were always present, as well as a few janitors, to clean up after the messy models. Elias was standing in front of Ophelia's office, his emerald green eyes shifting from left to right, looking to see if there were any desperate models nearby to possibly maul him and ask if he had time to take headshot photos. After making sure that the coast was clear, he quietly cracked open Ophelia's door and crept into her office. Ophelia usually left the agency early, having to attend certain "meetings," which really were really just blind dates. Her door usually locked when she closed it, but earlier, Elias had stuck a piece of electrical tape on the device that locked the door on closure, preventing it from locking when she left.

He looked at the watch that he lent to Joey the day before. He was reminded about the aftermath of the final shoot for the portfolio that was sent to the Japan branch earlier. He noticed how distracted and avoidant Joey was after the fact, returning the watch and then leaving the moment after. What was wrong with him? Well, Elias had a slight idea of what might have bothered Joey. Elias walked over to Ophelia's computer and turned it on, thinking about the moment after the two boys looked at the picture together. Elias had to admit that it wasn't the best that Joey could do, but maybe he was trying out a new approach? Whatever the case, Joey started acting different after they saw the picture. Maybe no one else noticed it, but why would they? It was such a subtle change that Elias only noticed because he had some kind of undying attraction for Joey that he couldn't control.

Joey just seemed uninterested in everything else besides leaving. Elias clicked through Ophelia's files, remembering how Joey's exit struck at Elias' ego over and over, like a county judge banging a gavel repeatedly or something like that. He went over his current ensemble. A red, fitted tee with black jeans, and brown dress-but-not-too-dress shoes. He had also brushed his hair to make sure that it didn't look short and unruly like it always did. He even wore cologne! He wanted Joey's watch return to turn into a full blown conversation, but Elias' plan fell short because of how the picture turned out. He was puzzled by the whole thing, knowing Joey's natural talent but failing to understand how it all fell apart in the picture that arguably counted the most. Elias also failed to understand, because he liked Joey so much, why he'd actually modify the portfolio behind Ophelia's back to tip the odds of getting chosen, by the Japan branch, to Joey's favor.

And Trevar's, unfortunately, only because Trevar just happened to catch Elias while he was doing it.

Elias sat down on the chair in front of the computer, looking back to how it all occured. Ophelia had stepped out a few hours after the shoot to attend to one of her many meetings, or dates. She and Elias were in her office before she left, talking about how the shoot went and talking about each of the models that participated, including Joey. She told Elias about how she had to keep telling Joey that there were no such things as do-overs, no matter how bad a picture turns out. She had nothing but praise towards Trevar, however, much to Elias' dismay. Ophelia left Elias in her office, telling him to take a load off, and to make sure her door was closed whenever he decided to leave. Elias waited a few moments after Ophelia was gone, and got up and behind her desk to access the portfolio that was going to be sent to Japan by e-mail. Still thinking about how crushed Joey was, Elias wanted to see the surprise on Joey's face after finding out that he was going on a trip to Japan. And if he was going to do that, he had to give Joey a little extra help. He slipped in a few of Joey's best photos into the portfolio, making sure to spread them throughout so that there wasn't a Joey picture after another.

That's when Trevar walked into the office, and when Elias wished that he had closed the door.

Long story short, Trevar figured out what Elias was doing and threatened to inform Ophelia if Elias didn't slip in great pictures of Trevar as well. After it was all said and done, the portfolio was basically a showcase of Trevar Maxwell and Joey Wheeler featuring a few other, insignificant models.

Surprisingly, the portfolio was sent without being checked, by Ophelia when she returned. Elias shut off Ophelia's computer, sure that all of Trevar and Joey's extra photos were erased from the hard drive. He crept out of the office, removing the electrical tape and closing the door, hoping that what he did was enough to get Joey chosen.

Maybe they could celebrate together? Like buddies of course. Elias didn't know if Joey was straight or not. No one knew about Elias, either, but Elias knew that there had to be something there. The watch proved it, didn't it?

"Elias!! Mmm, I'm so glad I found you! Let's take some promo pics of me okay?" A model ran towards Elias at blinding speed.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

Joey didn't want to get out of bed, but he did. He didn't want to take a shower, or brush his teeth, or wash his face, or try to tame his hair, but he did. He didn't want to put on clothes and grab his jacket, but he did. He also walked out of the door and down to the subway station before he could protest against himself. What was the point of going to the agency today just to hear that he wasn't going to Japan?

The receptionist lady wasn't at her desk. A receptionist man took her place. It caused Joey to shake his head in amusement. Maybe she quit because she finally realized that none of the guy models wanted anything to do with her intimately. Walking past the desk and heading over to Ophelia's office, he saw the other models, including Trevar, standing outside her office.

"Heh," Trevar blurted out when he took notice of Joey's arrival. Joey ignored it, leaning against the wall. Trevar shrugged it off as cat lady Ophelia opened her door.

"Well, we have the results. Two of you were chosen to go to Japan for a few months to model for KaibaCorp at a much closer proximity than you do here." Joey silently scoffed, rolling his eyes as his urge to leave continued to grow. He looked over to Trevar's smug facial expression, hating it and hating him even more for screwing up his opportunity to get out of New York for a while.

"I'm just going to cut to the chase, since I have a meeting to go to. Trevar..."

Joey watched as Trevar smiled. As his urge grew, Joey stood upright from leaning against the wall and turned to leave, almost missing the moment when Ophelia called his own name.

"You two, in my office. The rest of you, there's always next time, so practice on your angles and your imaginations! Now hurry up and get in my office, Joey and Trevar."

The other models were furious with the news, giving Trevar angry stares, and looking Joey up and down, wondering how he ever got picked over one of them. Joey turned around slowly, with a skeptical look on his face. Trevar scoffed louder this time, knowing full well that his scheme worked. Of course, he'd have to go to Japan with Joey instead of alone, but so what? If anything, it'll be fun to crush Joey in their own, private competition.

Joey, however, silently cheered inside his head as he walked past the failing, jealous models, who were no doubt staring daggers into every inch of his body. Some of them even wanted to ravage him violently, but Joey paid no attention, for he was going to Japan.

With Trevar. Dammit.

And, he wouldn't be near Elias anymore…

But then again, why did that matter? Elias was straight, he was sure.

But still, he'd miss him.

Joey couldn't believe it. Him? Japan?

Hahahaha. Trevar's little scheme didn't work!

Stupid Trevar.

But wow, Japan. He'd finish school there.

Maybe Elias could come to his graduation somehow.

But wait, how would Elias get to Japan? And where is he now, anyway? Shouldn't he be here, celebrating?

Why does it even matter? Elias would be too busy with a girlfriend or something. Sex, probably.

His random thoughts came to a screeching halt when he came up with the one question that was probably the hardest to answer.

How would he tell his father?

"WILL YOU HURRY UP JOEY!? NOW. GET IN HERE NOW!!" Ophelia screamed, startling all of the models.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

**F/N:** And again, if anyone would like to give me some tips on how to format these chapter better, please feel free to do so in a review. I need the help, and I'd appreciate it greatly. :)


	4. Leaving Part I

**A/N**: Wow. I am so sorry for my late update. My computer has been acting so strange, and school doesn't make my updates any faster. I didn't think anyone would like this story, or the idea, but I'm so surprised at all of the feedback that I've received so far! 20+ reviews, 17 alerts, and 900+ hits, and there have only been three chapters published prior to this one. I am so very thankful. People taking the time to give me a review, or favor my story, or even visit it, means a whole lot to me. It stirs me to start writing the next installment. I hope that I don't let you all down with this chapter, and please, keep the feedback coming! To everyone that thought the Hikari scene was a bit random, don't be alarmed! Everyone in my story has their own little side-story, as it adds to the character development. It'll all come together, I promise. :)

I… still haven't figured out to make the layout of this story better, but I'll try my best for you guys!

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO is a Scene Change.**

**Disclaimer:** In the dub, didn't Kaiba tell Joey to "bow at his master's feet like the dog he is?" Joey didn't actually do so, did he? Proof that I own nothing of Yu-Gi-Oh, right there.

_Chapter Four: Leaving… Part I_

A day had passed since Ophelia's big announcement. As Joey walked to the bus stop from school, he wondered if he was making too big of a deal out of this good fortune. For starters, he wasn't really "representing" America for anything, the corporation just needed extra modeling help, and different looks. Joey really didn't care, though. As far as he was concerned, he could exaggerate as much as he liked, for he was about to move far, far away from everything that he couldn't stand.

…Besides Trevar, of course.

…But Joey had just met the guy. They'd probably stay bitter acquaintances, at least in Joey's eyes. Who's to say that he'd even see him that often overseas?

He cleared his mind of Trevar, and resumed focusing on the positive. He was to leave in two days. Two! He had the perfect lie to tell his father, as well, although lying to his father about something like this left a bitter taste in the blonde's mouth. But then again, Joey had been technically lying to the elder Wheeler ever since the whole gay realization. As a way of escapism, Joey felt that his sexual orientation paled in comparison to lying about the reason that he'd be tens of thousands of miles away from his father. He had kept his secret hidden so long now that he had become used to it.

So, the lie:

Joey had "applied" to become a foreign exchange student, switching places with some random who lived in the Asian region. Asia region, or Asian region? Joey could not decide which phrase sounded better. Anywho, if his father asked if the random student would be living at their place, Joey would say that the random student would be living in a hotel, or something. It was a very convincing lie, considering that his father knew nothing about the way that foreign exchange projects work, and wouldn't really bother to do any research. The hardest part, actually, would be to actually tell the lie, for Joey still felt a little bad about it. He had always felt detached from his father, but that wasn't his father's fault.

Joey received a few stares from various people as he waited at a bus stop. Normally, he would have stared back, but fearing that he'd mess his face up during a fight if one of them decided that Joey was a threat to society by staring hard into their eyes, Joey had no choice but to avoid their gazes. He sighed inwardly. The trip to Japan to model was a blessing, but not being able to fight for his face's sake made Joey feel _too_ much like a girl. In his eyes, gay men and straight women were not one in the same, so there had to be at least a little masculinity that Joey could hold onto, right? Or, maybe he just needed a little bit of it to make him feel less guilty about liking the same sex? But did it really matter? He'd never be comfortable enough to tell anyone but himself, anyway. This, in turn, would mean that he was destined to be alone, forever.

The bus slowed to a stop, as the doors opened in front of the blonde, and just in time. Joey didn't feel like thinking about his own personal problems anymore. Maybe he could start a brand new life over in Japan? He could have a new name, a new personality, a new everything. Why not take advantage of something so great?

Joey sat down in the very back, on one of the empty and cold metal seats. Looking out the window, he saw Trevar running for the bus as it began to roll away, the bus driver unaware of the gray-eyed teen's hand waves and apparent yelling. He scoffed at the flailing and wailing jerk from inside the bus. He could fight him, at least. Joey was sure that one swing would leave the snoot sprawled on the floor. The resulting image made the blonde cringe, long after Trevar was out of sight. Talk about raging hormones in males. Even Trevar could look hot, and Joey hated the guy.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

"Ah, well alright Joe! My boy is goin' ta China!"

The news prompted Joey's father to put the remote down on the coffee table in their small living room. A woman was sitting close to him on the couch, apparently trying to find interest in Friday Night Football. She looked up to Joey and smiled. Joey was standing a few feet away from them, trying to put on a fake smile, but finding it hard to do so. Joey decided to execute the lie right after he walked in the door from school, as to make it a little more believable. It was actually working, and Joey didn't know what to think of it.

He exhaled, and put on a grin. "Yea', it's gonna be real diff'rent up theah, but I'm pumped ta be goin'."

Joey's dad shook his head and smiled, still getting over the news. He turned to the woman beside him, as if to gloat. "Joe's gonna be one of dem' famous people dat travel all over the world or sommat," he began, as the woman nodded. Joey looked to the side, not being able to bear his plan working successfully. He also wonder how good his dad's dick had to be for that woman to sit there and listen to him ramble on, but Joey would never want to know the answer.

Joey broke their one-sided conversation. "I'm gonna start packin' dad, I get outta here on Monday."

His father looked up from the couch. "I'm proud o' ya Joe. You're out thea doin' things that I never had the chance ta."

"We're Wheelah's dad, we can do anything!" Joey said enthusiastically, beating himself up inside as he began to walk to his room.

"Damn right we are," he could hear his dad call out. The television got louder after.

He sat on his bed, closing his room's door to muffle the sounds of the television in the living room. He still felt bad about how easy it was to fool his father. Joey wondered how proud his father would be if he found out his secret about the modeling, and the whole gay thing. Not too proud, Joey mused. His father had a good heart… he wasn't bad by any means, but that doesn't mean that he was exactly open-minded. Of course, Joey couldn't expect his father to get used to something so big right away. Why was he so afraid to just let it all go?

Japan would clear his mind, he hoped. Maybe he could come back and just tell all. Then he could fight again, or something.

Joey decided to play a video game, to lose his mind to something mindless. He was to go to the modeling agency on Sunday, to prepare with Trevar. Joey rolled his eyes at the thought. Elias also popped into his thoughts, but Joey threw him right back out. He was too mad at himself to think about romance scenes with the stoic-but-friendly-and-hot-and-charismatic photographer.

The video game really wasn't helping, after all.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

**F/N:** I'm so sorry that I had to make this short! This chapter is part of a two-part… chapter thing, and this was the natural break between part I and part II. I have to get ready for school tomorrow, bleh. Such little time. Again, I apologize for the OCs right now, but none of the real characters live in NYC. Please bear with me. They will all come soon. I want to thank everyone who reads this story. I enjoy writing it.


	5. Leaving Part II

**A/N: **I'm so sorry for taking longer than expected with updating. I have college all through summer, so it makes it tough to stay on schedule. I will never forget to update, though. I like the idea of this story too much to do such a thing. I can't believe the reviews that you all have submitted, by the way. It's a good feeling to be able to keep you guys interested in this story, so please, keep the reviews coming! Joey leaves for Japan in this chapter, hooray! Do I smell a name change..? We'll see, we'll see.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO is a Scene Change.**

**Disclaimer:** No, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!. ...That's all.

_Chapter Four: Leaving... Part II_

"_Mmmmm... I just LOVE talking on the phone with hot singles like you late at night. It's just so thrilling, and makes me feel so... mmm."_

"_Before I start chatting on the Interactive Hotties Hotline, I make sure I have a nice, hot bubble bath ready, just for you... splash splash"_

"_There's always something to talk about on the Interactive Hotties Hotline! Do you think you can handle me..?"_

"_I always have my friends Jackie and Sasha to join me on the hotline, and we're all ready for YOU..."_

_There are always hot locals to talk to on the Interactive Hotties Hotline, but you must be 18 years or older to join the party. $0.95 a minute after the first hour._

"_So what are you waiting for, hot boy..? Teeheehee..."_

"The remote," Joey replied to his television, as he turned it off, along with the overly-sexy late night hotline commercial that was currently on the air. He turned on his lamp and sat on his twin bed.

It was Sunday night, and the anxious blond could not sleep, although he knew that it'd be in his best interest to try and do so. Instead, he thought of random or unnecessary things to keep his nerves from going crazy. Thoughts that had questions. Questions like, "Would I have paid attention to that commercial if it were men-based instead of women?" That thought turned into another question-y thought, like how gay was he really? Joey didn't even like the word. He also didn't think that he was horny enough to get excited over a men's hotline commercial, featuring guys that were probably straight actors. But then, why would a straight man act gay on television, unless he got paid a lot of money? Joey didn't think that those sorts of commercials offered that much cash.

From his current sitting position on his bed, he collapsed sideways, and his head plopped onto the mattress with a thud. Joey was tired of thinking about things, although he had much to think about, with the whole Japan-life-changing-hating-Trevar-wanting-Elias thing. Truth be told, though, his mind was exhausted. Two days ago, he easily lied to his father and tried his best not to feel bad about it, and yesterday, he had to head to the Agency to prepare for leaving the country.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO **

**Yesterday...**

"I just called you two here to make sure you were ready," Ophelia began, as she paced in front of Joey and Trevar. "Elias will meet you at the airport, blah blah. He will have the tickets. When you get off the plane, an associate of _Kaiba Corp_ will escort you to where you need to go. Remember that name, the associate should be holding a sign with that name plastered in huge letters. You know, like in the movies."

Ophelia stopped pacing and grabbed her purse from her desk, taking a tube of lipstick out to apply accordingly. "I'm sure you don't have any questions, since it really isn't hard to understand." Joey and Trevar watched as Ophelia put away her mango lipstick, only to take out a foundation pad.

"I don't think I have anything else to tell you... there's only one major airport, so go there..." she trailed off as she began applying her foundation, cursing silently when she lost focus and messed up at times. Trevar stifled a laugh. Joey rolled his eyes at Trevar, making sure the grey-eyed teen wasn't paying attention of course, as Ophelia put her foundation pad back in her purse. She then flipped her hair a couple of times before finally being satisfied.

"But just in case you two actually have questions, hurry up and shoot. My meetings are very unforgiving if I'm late."

"We don't," Trevar replied, as Joey shot him a sidewards glance. Even if the blond had nothing to ask, he wasn't going to let Trevar talk for him.

"I don't, but thanks," was Joey's reply. Trevar scoffed at it.

"Good!" Ophelia said gleefully. "Now leave. Shoo! I really have to go, and good luck and all of that nonsense."

The boys continued to sit until Ophelia almost had to escort them out physically. They had only been sitting for a second after Ophelia had finished speaking, but apparently, she was in a big rush.

As Joey was well on his way to walk out of Ophelia's office, Trevar walked right in front of him, as to cut him off purposely to exit first. Joey fumed silently and quickly behind the other teen, balling his right fist, before suppressing his anger and walking out after Trevar. An older man that was waiting outside of the office walked inside, and the door was shut with a slam, which startled the two teens.

"Wow, what a waste of time," Trevar said to himself before turning to his apparent rival. "So, Joey... you ready to go overseas? 'Cause you haven't been modeling for a very long time, have you?"

"Nope," Joey replied as he continued to walk off, as fast as he could without speed-walking. Any speed less, and he might have had the time to take one of the fake plants sitting in the hallway, and use it as a projectile aimed at Trevar's eye.

"Well, wow," Trevar muttered to himself, as Joey disappeared from sight. He glared at nothing in particular, as if to be deep in thought. The raven-haired, grey-eyed boy really didn't know what Elias saw in the blond, with his mangy and scroungy hair. There was no way that Trevar was going to let Joey beat him in anything, and he'd prove it when they got to Japan.

**Present...**

Joey sighed at the recent memory, as he got up from bed to turn off the light, surrounding himself in darkness. He knew Elias was around, but Joey was way too mad to have stuck around. He plopped onto bed, with his whole body this time, wondering why he ever got so hung up on Elias in the first place. Joey had always been sure that he was straight, and a... gay guy with a straight one didn't really make much sense.

He seriously believed that you had to be born gay. Who would put themselves through so much misery and pointless crushes on straight guys if you could just suddenly turn straight yourself without liking other dudes ever again?

Sleeping was hard to do for the blond tonight, though he managed to finally do so, after laughing at the idea of Trevar being in one of those gay hotline commercials. Oh how he wished that Trevar would fall, fall, fall into such desperation for a job that he'd have to do something like that to keep a jacket on his dumb, stupid back.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

"Go get em', Joe!" Were his father's last words before Joey walked out of the apartment, a place that he'd never see again for a while. The woman from two night ago had stayed around through entire weekend, making a big breakfast for the aspiring-but-not-so-much teen before he left for the airport. Joey decided to just go with the flow. He felt horrible for lying, but he believed that the trip overseas would benefit the both of them.

Joey was also sure that his father was excited for the extra space in their apartment. At least, that's what he chose to believe.

It was 9:00 AM, and Joey was waiting to board the plane at the airport. As excited as he was to get away from the United States for awhile, he wondered how much different Japan could be. Sure, he'd have a massive culture shock, but there were probably ruffians, thugs and other annoyance there like there were here. Ever since he played _Shenmue_ on his old Dreamcast console, he had hoped to live that kind of life in Japan, sans the fighting all the time. He didn't want to get his hopes up, though.

He decided to sit down, instead of pacing in front of the gate. He silently cursed his nerves. The butterflies in his stomach were not agreeing with the food he ate, and were on a mission to make him hurl all over the bag that he was going to board the plane with. He hunched over and laid his head on his lap. What was wrong with him?

The reception lady near him picked up her intercom device, licking her lips before speaking into it, as if it would have made a difference in her delivery. "The plane en route to Domino, Japan will board shortly. Thank you for riding with Dragon Airlines."

Joey stood up, picking up his bag. Trevar and Elias would come to the gate soon, so the blond decided to give his face a wash in the bathroom to snap out of whatever was making his stomach go crazy. The bathroom wasn't too far, which was good. It didn't take Joey but about 23 paces before he walked through the men's bathroom door, to find Elias standing in front one of the mirrors.

What Joey didn't know, was that the suave photographer had been there for more than ten minutes, at least. The bathroom smelled like fresh-scented toilet cleaner with a hint of the cologne Elias was wearing.

To keep a surprised expression from showing on the blond's face, Joey put on a face of confusion instead, cocking his head and squinting slightly. Why was Elias even wearing cologne? Did he have a date after he'd kick Joey on a plane to Japanime? Joey had tried making up names to call Japan, for some reason. He concluded that "Japanime" did not work, just in time for Elias to actually notice the blond standing a few feet behind him.

Conveniently for Elias, who didn't bother to conceal his shock in his eyes when he saw his model, someone else tried walked through the bathroom door, a door which Joey was still standing in front of. As such, the door swung and knocked Joey from behind, causing him to stagger. The staggering caused him to curse. Out loud.

Elias' eyes switched from surprised to amused.

It turns out that the culprit was a little girl who ran into the wrong bathroom. She wanted to ask what Joey meant when he said "Motherf-," but the poor girl was yanked out of the room by her mother before she could find out.

"Heh..." Joey laughed nervously, looking up to Elias, who really looked nice in his black jeans and his red Coca-Cola muscle shirt. Joey smiled uneasily, as Elias cocked his head, his emerald green eyes squinting slightly, and his lips curved into an amused grin. He let out a huff of laughter when Joey composed himself after the little girl collision, walking to the sink next to the one occupied by the other boy. Joey shook his head, turning on the faucet.

"So... what are you doing in here?" Joey asked, to break the silence, before realizing that he had actually asked that question aloud. 'Just one stupid thing after another,' he thought to himself.

"Well, I peed, came to the sink to wash my hands, and was just about to meet you out theyah," Elias replied, receiving and eye roll from the blond. Elias realized that this was the first time that he had actually teased Joey, and he wasn't going to let up. "You wanna to search me fa' more details, gumshoe?"

Joey washed his hands under the luke-warm water. "Maybe later."

...And then he realized that he said that out loud, as well, as if saying whatever popped into the model's mind was the latest trend for himself. His butterflies got worse. He needed add something to his answer, and quick. "...But. Uh... that's just-"

"Well, whoa there, detective..." Elias said, cutting Joey off and claiming dominance over the slightly bitter teen's slip. "You sure like to know every inch of your photographers, don't you...?"

"Yes!" Joey replied sarcastically. "I _need _to know. PLEASE inform me of eeeeeeverything. Everything about you, you talented photographer of my life!"

Elias chuckled, watching Joey splashing his face with water. "So, you nervous about the trip?"

Joey looked at Elias, with water still dripping a little from his chin. Elias always liked Joey's profile, and it was even better with some of his bangs clinging to his face, thanks to the water.

"I'm not THAT nervous," Joey answered. "It's just... a job. It'll be good for yo- I mean, me. It'll be great for me. Just great. You'll see."

"Haha, you're nervous," the teen photographer interjected.

"No I'm not," Joey retorted, ripping a piece of paper towel from the dispenser, and wiping his face dry.

"Are too," Elias replied matter-of-factly.

"Are not," Joey said childishly, his voice a little muffled from the paper towel activity.

"You just need some pumping up," Elias responded, walking behind Joey, and placing his hands on each of Joey's shoulders. Before the blond could even comprehend what was happening, Elias was rubbing at the base of his neck. Joey's eyes grew wide, hoping the mirror couldn't catch his expression. What the hell was Elias doing to him!?

"You gotta get ready for this," Elias continued, massaging a bit harder. Truth be told, he had never massaged anyone before. If it were so easy on television, then how hard could it be? He wasn't aware that he was actually hurting Joey, who was still in shock. Elias was touching Joey. In a way that two guys don't normally touch!

"Ooooow!" Joey managed to say, jerking his shoulders forward, freeing his shoulders from Elias' death grip. "Don't quit your day job, sheesh..." Truth be told, Joey never had anyone massage him before, but if it felt like that, he'd have to pass. Besides, Joey couldn't look like he was liking it anyway, for obvious reasons. He couldn't blow his cover. Guys massaged other guys, right? Joey guessed that they did that as part of some pep talk thing. Don't boxing coaches do that to their clients right before fights? Joey did not want Elias thinking that he liked the idea of his muscular-but-not-veiny-looking hands caressing his body. He didn't want his last impression on the photographer to be any kind of frightening.

Meanwhile, Elias cursed himself for doing such a dumb move. What was he thinking? Maybe it was some kind of score... Joey, a NY boy, had just allowed being massaged by another boy. Elias knew that there had to be something there. "Guess you don't need my famous.. model pep rub, yeah?" He mindsmacked himself. He was losing Joey quick, and he wanted to figure out a way to get him before he left.

"Not really," Joey replied back, grinning. "I'll be juust gravy with just your general support."

"You'll always have that," Elias spoke out instantly, without really thinking. He grinned back, and Joey's face softened without much resistance from the blond. His defenses, assumptions and nerves had only malfunctioned for a second. When they started working again, Joey almost blushed, as he looked toward the ground to avert Elias' gaze. What was happening? Some kind of sick, sadistic power was messing with him today.

"Hey, we should get going," Elias said, interrupting Joey's thoughts. "Trevar is probably waiting at the gate by now."

"You're right," Joey responded, finally turning the faucet off, and began to walk out of the bathroom with Elias in tow. "Didn't you have to come to the airport for some important, model-related reason?"

"Nope," Elias answered. "Just came to see you off."

Joey allowed himself to blush completely. Elias was behind him, he wouldn't have been able to see.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

Sure enough, Trevar was waiting impatiently at the gate, while other passengers were walking through it to board the plane. It seemed as though the plane was ready for boarding while Elias and Joey were in the bathroom. Trevar picked up his jet black backpack, and looked suspicious when he saw the two other boys arrive to the gate together.

"Well, there's nothing for me to really say. I just came to make sure you guys were good. See you when you get back." That was all Elias said in front of the two before he turned on his heels and walked the other way, satisfied of the time he had with Joey, even though it wasn't what he had planned.

Joey looked at Elias until he disappeared into the busy crowd, and then proceeded to walk through the long, winding gate, with a suspicious looking Trevar in tow this time around.

"What the fuck is with that guy?" Trevar asked while the two were walking. "You'd think he had the gay hots for you, after all he's done."

Joey rolled his eyes in annoyance of so many levels, which was OK, since Trevar could only see the blond's back. Joey didn't know what Trevar meant by "after all he's done," but he really couldn't of cared less.

He had hoped that Trevar was right about the hots part, though. Gay hots or otherwise.

**Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO**

**F/N:** Let me just remind you that this is a Seto/Jou(Joey) 'fic. Don't forget. In fact, the two will meet during the next chapter, so don't think that I'm going astray, haha. Should I really be telling you what happens in the chapters to come? Well, it was only one tidbit, so I guess it's OK. Did you guys like the NY original characters? I'm having trouble deciding if they should show up in later chapters to come. Who knows? Hopefully, school won't delay my updates much longer. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please let me know what you think. :)


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